Encouraging Lifelong Learning for an Inclusive and Vibrant Europe

ENLIVEN Youth Panel – England

An initial meeting of the English Youth Panel took place at Nottingham University on 26th April. The young people were interested to have the opportunity to visit a university. Members of the Nottingham ENLIVEN team from both the Education and Computer Science Departments attended. We discussed “Research in Society” and “Data and information relating to employment programmes for young people”. We discovered the young people felt there was a need for better careers advice in schools and that they felt there problems with confidence and mental health within their peer group. We were inspired by a couple of the participants who, with the aid of the local “Young and Successful” support into employment programme, had been able overcome problems with their confidence. One young person had represented her peers to a House of Parliament committee, whilst another had founded his own entertainment business, appearing as Spiderman at children’s parties.

The Computer Science team were interested to meet participants from the “Young and Successful” programme as we have been analysing data from this programme. The meeting breathed life into our figures! We also found the young people brought some fresh insights into how employment programmes for young people should be evaluated and the complexities involved in capturing programme data. They contributed towards the requirements for the Intelligent Decision Support System being created within the ENLIVEN project.